January 21, 1996
On your birthday, the Earth completed another orbit — 584 million miles traveled since your last celebration.
Mercury's Faults
Birthday · January 21, 1996
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APOD published January 21, 1996. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
The surface of the planet Mercury is not without fault. In this case, however, "fault" refers to unusual surface features that are the topic of much speculation. The above fault line is called Santa Maria Rupes, and runs through many prominent craters. The meandering feature is thought to be the result of huge forces of compression on Mercury's surface. Such rupes probably originate from large impacts and a general shrinking of Mercury's crust, which in turn causes parts of the crust to push above other parts.